Hearing Gong Tieshan's question, Yan Dechang, who was not good at talking, hesitated for a moment, looked at Yan Liqiang, and then spoke, "So that Lord Gong knows that this knife was not made by me, but was designed by my son Liqiang. I just made the blueprint drawn by Liqiang into a real object..."
"Ah, this knife was actually conceived by Li Qiang?"
Gong Tieshan was truly surprised. He was not surprised when he learned that Yan Liqiang was the young man who taught the method to save the drowning person. He was not surprised when he learned that Yan Liqiang was the first among the top three in the Qinghe County National Martial Arts County Examination. But when he heard that Yan Liqiang was able to invent such an exquisite weapon at such a young age, he was surprised, because in his opinion, anyone who could invent such a scimitar must be either a genius in swordsmanship or a master-level figure who has been immersed in craftsmanship for decades and has a special understanding of swords. He never expected that this scimitar was actually "invented" by Yan Liqiang.
He looked at Yan Liqiang, his eyes full of inquiry, "Liqiang, are you learning swordsmanship?"
"I didn't learn how to use a knife, I learned how to use a gun!" Yan Liqiang said calmly.
"Then how did you come up with the idea for this scimitar?"
Not only Gong Tieshan, but also Qian Su was curious about this question. Qian Su knew before that this knife was made by Yan Liqiang, but he didn't know how Yan Liqiang came up with the idea of making such an ingenious and unique scimitar.
Yan Liqiang smiled slightly, "What a coincidence. A few months ago, I was eating roasted whole lamb in Uncle Qian's craftsman camp. At that time, several big brothers in the craftsman camp cut a roasted lamb leg for me. When I held the roasted lamb leg in my hand, I pinched the lamb's hoof and felt that there was a strange inertia and power on the lamb leg when I swung it. It felt very smooth. At that time, I wondered if I could make a knife that was like this lamb leg. When swinging it, I could use the weight and structure of the blade itself to achieve greater power. Later, I designed this scimitar based on the shape of the lamb leg..."
There is a saying that goes "selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton". Dog meat and mutton cannot be distinguished because dogs and sheep are similar in body shape, and the general shape of dog legs and lamb legs is not much different. Yan Liqiang described the dog-leg scimitar as a lamb-leg scimitar, and linked the process of discovering and generating this idea with eating lamb legs. This is completely flawless and there is nothing wrong with it. More importantly, just a few months ago, he really ate lamb legs in the craftsman camp, and Qian Su can testify to this.
Yan Liqiang's words made Gong Tieshan silent for a long time. Finally, he slapped his thigh fiercely and said with great emotion, "Damn it, I have eaten lamb legs for decades. Countless people have eaten countless lamb legs for thousands of years. Why didn't anyone think of this?"
…
Gong Tieshan stayed in the Artisan Camp until night, had a meal with Yan Liqiang and the other two, drank a lot of wine, and finally got a little drunk. He returned to the camp of Gongzi Camp under the escort of a group of personal guards. The 100 Yan's scimitars given to him by Yan Liqiang and his son had already been loaded into a car and sent over by Qian Su.
When Gong Tieshan left, he held Yan Liqiang's hand and directly called Yan Liqiang his nephew and asked Yan Liqiang to call him Uncle Gong.
…
After seeing off Gong Tieshan, Yan Liqiang, Qian Su, and Yan Dechang, they returned to the living room in Qian Su's yard.
"Li Qiang, those 100 scimitars took a lot of effort to make in our family's workshop over the past few months. If they were sold, they would be worth at least 400 taels of silver. How could you be so generous and just give them away?"
Yan Dechang came to deliver the knives with great joy, thinking he could make some money, but he didn't expect that all the knives were given away by Yan Liqiang. That was a huge sum of money. Yan Dechang didn't say anything at the time, but he still felt very sad.
"Dad, have a drink of water and calm down..." Yan Liqiang smiled and poured a cup of tea for Yan Dechang, then stood behind Yan Dechang, pinched his shoulders, and said, "I gave those knives to Captain Gong for my reasons. Don't worry, Dad. It won't be long before Captain Gong will be able to make our family earn ten or a hundred times the money back."
"How is that possible?" Yan Dechang turned his head and looked at Yan Liqiang in disbelief.
"Dad, what do you think is the purpose of our family doing business now?"
"Of course it's to make money!" Yan Dechang said as a matter of course.
"It's true that I make money, but Dad, where does that money come from..."
"This..." Yan Dechang was stunned for a moment. He had not thought about this problem carefully.
"Dad, if you don't tell me, then I will. If you do ordinary business to support your family and get rich, then the money is earned by skills. The so-called skills in business are to buy low and sell high. No matter what you sell, the price of the things you sell can exceed the cost of obtaining that thing. The middle is profit. With profit, you can make money..."
"Yes, that's the truth!" Yan Dechang nodded.
"Everyone who does business wants to make money. However, in the end, the highest level of business is not to make money!" Yan Liqiang smiled and continued to relax Yan Dechang's shoulders.
"The highest realm of doing business, if not making money, then what is it?" Not to mention Yan Dechang, even Qian Su who was drinking hangover tea next to him couldn't help but ask.
"It's to make money!" Yan Liqiang said these three words firmly, his eyes sparkling, "As long as you make money, it's easy to make money. If you don't make money in business, it's not necessarily a good thing to make a lot of money. It may even bring disaster. Just like our family now, is our family really short of money? No, we are not short of money. If the world doesn't change, the fields and properties in our town are enough for my father and me to live a worry-free life until we are old. But, that's all. If something really happens, how much use will that little bit of land and property have? Just like the Hong family before, it usually looks prosperous, but if something really happens, just a passing wind will make the entire Hong family disappear in the town. Dad, do you want our family to be like the Hong family?"
This was also the deep feeling Yan Liqiang had after his experience. If he had not had the painful experience last time, how could Yan Liqiang have imagined that the Yan family, which was thriving, would become the second Hong family in Liuhe Town just because of a word from the county magistrate, and disappear in the blink of an eye. Those fields, houses and properties are nothing in front of power. Sometimes, no matter how much money you have, it is useless.
It was also at that time that Yan Liqiang truly understood why the head of the richest Rothschild family on earth said when he came to China that the Rothschild family pursued influence rather than money. Because it was not money that truly protected the richest family on earth, and the influence of the Shi family, the so-called money, was just a projection of the family's influence.
In addition to their own military force, another thing that can protect the Yan family is the influence that the Yan family should have. However, it must be admitted that the Yan family now has only a little influence in Liuhe Town. Outside of Liuhe Town, even in Qinghe County, the Yan family is completely insignificant and is just a small landlord.
Therefore, after Yan Liqiang resolved the threat posed by Ye Xiao and others, the most urgent thing for him now is to build up the influence of the Yan family step by step and learn how to win over people.
These several hundred taels of silver are nothing. If we really talk about money, the fortune Yan Liqiang got from the Shatu people is enough for him and his son to live on for ten lifetimes. But money alone is not enough.
In response to Yan Liqiang's question, Yan Dechang shook his head as a matter of course, "Of course not!"
"That's it. So if our family wants to last long, we have to follow the rules when doing business. Winning people is the first priority, and making money is the second. As long as we win people, the money will come naturally, and we can keep it..."
Yan Dechang understood a little, "So you're making a profit by giving those knives to Captain Gong for free?"
“Well, Dad, you have to believe in my judgment. Given Captain Gong’s personality and temper, as long as our family gives him enough face today, we can not only get closer to Captain Gong and become friends with him, but Captain Gong will definitely give us a bigger surprise in the future. Otherwise, he will be embarrassed to see us again. Just wait and see…” Yan Liqiang said firmly. This was also his experience in two lifetimes.
With a son like this, what else could Yan Dechang say? Yan Liqiang's words convinced Yan Dechang and made him feel relieved. He no longer felt sorry for the 100 scimitars. "Okay, Liqiang, I'll do whatever you say. Daddy will listen to you from now on!"
Not to mention Yan Dechang, even Qian Su who was standing next to him was convinced after hearing it. He was really convinced. A boy who was less than fifteen years old could say that the highest level of doing business is to make money from people rather than from money. Qian Su asked himself that he had never seen such a person. Not to mention a boy, even those who have been in the business world for a hundred years may not have such understanding and be able to say such words.
"Li Qiang, your uncle Qian spends money lavishly every day, and has to bribe people all the time. Even if the position of the camp supervisor has a little bit of benefits, it is not enough to spend. Moreover, there are so many people in the craftsman camp who need to eat and live. I have to take care of everything, and they all look up to me. It's not easy to be the camp supervisor!" Qian Su squinted his eyes and smiled at Yan Liqiang, saying half-truthfully, "So, Li Qiang, since you can explain the principles of doing business and making money so clearly, can you show your uncle Qian a way to make money and seek some benefits for everyone in the craftsman camp?"
"Can the Governor's Office allow the Artisan Battalion to make money on its own?" Yan Liqiang asked Yan Dechang a question.
"As long as it does not affect the production of military equipment and does not violate laws and discipline, we in the Artisan Battalion are willing to do anything!"
Yan Liqiang smiled slightly, "I have a way to make money, but it's too easy to make money. There are too few people in the Artisan Camp. Even if I put a mountain of gold and silver here, the artisan business can't take up much. If you want to make more money, you might as well join forces with the Lu family!"
"What method is there to make money so easily?" Qian Su said in disbelief.
"If I can sell soil at the same price as coal, or even a little more expensive than coal, Uncle Qian, do you think this method can make money?"
Qian Su was slightly stunned, then laughed out loud, "Li Qiang, you are kidding me, right? If this soil can be sold at the same price as coal, then I can just find a dirt mountain and circle around it, and I will have a mountain of gold and a sea of silver. The legendary method of turning stones into gold is just like this..."
Yan Liqiang said nothing, but just smiled at Qian Su, "Ahem... Ahem... Uncle Qian, have you forgotten how I knew about the method of using moxa to save drowning people? I had a dream a few days ago. In the dream, I met the old man with white beard again. He told me a way to sell soil at the same price as coal..."
The smile on Qian Su's face froze for a moment...
(End of this chapter)